Exemplary embodiments herein relate to resettable break-away joints, and particularly relate to a break-away pole assembly having a resettable break-away joint, e.g., a light pole assembly for a utility vehicle.
Small industrial vehicles are used in many manufacturing facilities to transport personnel and/or cargo around the manufacturing facility. These vehicles come in many varieties including three-wheeled and four-wheeled, electric powered and combustion powered, etc. For safety reasons, one or more light poles can be mounted to these types of vehicles. Such a light pole can extend upward above the vehicle and include a light source, such as a flashing light, for alerting those around the vehicle of its presence.
To ensure good visibility of the light source on the light pole, the light pole can extend high above the vehicle. In particular, the pole can extend to a sufficient height so that the light source disposed distally on the pole is raised above any personnel or cargo (or other obstructions) carried on the industrial vehicle. Unfortunately, while tall light poles increase visibility, these same light poles can become obstacles during navigation of the industrial vehicle. For example, the light pole can inadvertently contact overhead obstructions or more generally any obstruction in the manufacturing facility. This can result in bent or broken light poles, and sometimes can result in transference of load forces to structural components of the vehicle and these components can be bent or broken. Once broken, manpower and other resources may need to be diverted to repairing the broken light pole or components on the industrial vehicles. The light pole can also cause property damage.